Judy and Rolan McKnight do most things together. Whether they are running errands, going to church, or volunteering, you cannot find one without the other. Judy and Rolan are volunteers at United Hospital Center (UHC) in Bridgeport, WV, where Judy works at the hospital’s main information desk and Rolan fetches and pushes wheelchairs.

Judy and Rolan have been volunteering at UHC for five years. They first volunteered at UHC’s old location in Clarksburg, WV, but they moved along with the hospital, when the new location opened. They usually volunteer two days a week, but lately they have been volunteering three or four days a week, six hours at a time, because the hospital is short on volunteers. According to Judy, they volunteer at the hospital because they like helping people.

Judy also says she likes being active, which is a factor in her choice to volunteer. Before she retired, she worked as a sales representative at multiple department stores. Currently, Judy has limited mobility, as she waits to have knee surgery. She says that after her surgery, she plans to find a part-time job as a sales representative. In the meantime, Judy enjoys spending time with her husband, while volunteering. “It’s wonderful,” she says.

Rolan’s motivation for volunteering is even more straightforward than Judy’s. According to Rolan, Judy began volunteering first. As she is unable to drive, he drove her to the hospital for her volunteer shifts, and he would wait for her in the car. About six months after Judy began volunteering, Rolan volunteered, but according to Rolan he does not volunteer just to pass the time. “. . . I like helping people, so I enjoy it, and I get my exercise that way,” he says.

According to Judy, although she enjoys her volunteer work, the hospital is not always a stress-free environment. “It just depends on the day. Some days it’s very, very enlightening and good. Other days you go home and you want to pull your hair out,” Judy explained. She says that the occasions that she has had to make emergency calls were both stressful and reassuring. From her seat directly inside the hospital’s main doors, Judy has witnessed patients passing out and having diabetic episodes, and she says that the hospital’s response time is phenomenal.

Rolan says that his volunteer experience has been more mundane. He claims that it is nothing spectacular. He just helps people by pushing them out of the hospital. Rolan does say that he gains enjoyment from helping people, as well as appreciating the exercise.

Volunteering is also another way to spend time with Judy, beyond the time that Rolan spends on his hobbies. According to Rolan, he spends most of his free time either doing wood craving or making jewelry. The jewelry he makes out of wood or beads, and it is all for his wife. According to Judy, he makes most of her jewelry. Rolan is also working on a long-term project carving a five-foot-by-five-foot Millennial Temple, which he hopes to display in local churches once it is completed.

Volunteering at UHC has another benefit for Judy and Rolan. Rolan’s daughter works at the hospital, providing another incentive for them to spend time there. However, according to both Judy and Rolan helping people remains their main incentive.